Ireland (Day One) - An Introduction to Ireland

I am going to take you on a tour of my biggest trip yet. I went to Ireland!

It was my first time out of the country (unless you count this one time I crept into Canada from North Dakota to go into a water park as a kid. My mom didn't even have my sister's or my passport, but we got in and out, legally - I don't know how). 

I wanted to go for several reasons. I thought it would be a great first country to go to because they primarily speak English, or so I thought until we saw all the Gaelic. My husband just graduated college so it was a great celebration before he settled into his career. And last, and the most important reason, is because I'm pregnant. If you're close enough to me to know I have this blog, you'll already know why I wanted to go while pregnant. If you're an internet stranger, I guess it doesn't matter if you make fun of me. However, an old coworker and friend of mine told me his mom went to Egypt when he was in her womb. She thinks she exposed him to a spiritual experience by doing that. I always thought that was a great idea, and couldn't think of a better land to do that in other than Ireland. It's an ancient place with lore, light, and magic if you're looking for it. I'm so glad I was able to go, and now I'm determined to take a giant UK trip to see England, Scotland, Whales, and Northern Ireland next. 

I couldn't think of a better way to do this blog than to take you day by day with what I did, because I did a lot! My husband and I stayed in the countryside mainly. We're both pretty rural people and I don't feel I'd like a city in any country. We did drive (mistakenly) through Dublin right after we rented our car. That was a learning curve for driving on the left! So we did see Dublin, and while it was beautiful and historical, the amount of people there instilled why I avoid cities. 

We took a circle through our ten days there. We got there June 20th and stayed two nights in Brockagh, Ireland. On the 22nd we stayed around Cork. On the 24th we got to Lisdoonvarna. The 26th we relaxed a bit and stayed in Leitrim. Then on the 29th we stayed in at a hotel close enough to Dublin for our early flight at a town called Leixlip. 

So come with me day by day and see what I saw. If you're European, remember I am from a very new country and got excited at all of the old remnants that are just everywhere. Just like I forget how weird it is to live in a state it takes two days to drive through, you forget that us Americans aren't used to the kind of history Europe holds. 

(Some of these photos are on my phone, if you're noticing a different in quality.)

Here's a good first photo. The countryside of Ireland, and the constant reminder for us to drive on the left. 

Some beautiful stone walls and countryside homes.

Our first stay was at 10 Riverside House. It was absolutely stunning land that I'll be featuring. They had a pathway right into the nearest town - we just had to cross some big stone steps to get to the trail. 

This is the view of a great valley. If your back is turned to the Riverside House, it would be on your right. On top of the valley is remnants of an old minors village, which I'll feature a little in an upcoming blog. 

It was nice to be right next to a mountain, and a good way to get my feet wet into the new landscape, since I'm from somewhere with mountains and trees. You can also see the river (past the sheep) and a bit of the pathway we went on.

With our backs turned to the house, after we went on the stone steps, we decided to go right, instead of left that would lead us into town. As you can see, there's a lot of sheep all throughout Ireland. You'll be seeing quite a bit of them in the background. Also, there's an interesting mechanical piece by the river in the second photo. I'm not sure what it is.

Down the pathway with the woods on one side, and the river on another. It was beautiful.

The woods were very witchy. I saw similar trees when I live in the Northeast. The moss covering them though just gave an eerie vibe. I live among the giant redwoods, but there's just something different about small, sparsely laid out trees covered in greenery. I love it though.

These branches looked like broomsticks to me.

This is when we stumbled across an old minor's house (according to the woman who owned Riverside House). This is what I'm talking about, just random crumbling ruins all throughout this country. I'll show you some pictures of the outside of this building down below. 

Behind the house.

This was also behind the house, but wasn't connected to it. I don't know if it was connected at some point or not. I also love the clover growing over everything.

Starting to get on the inside, you can see all of the beautiful plants growing tall. But that's not the coolest part of the inside either.

Trees covered in multiple types of cloth/clothing/masks...even an apron! I spent about an hour looking to see what this meant. From remembering loved ones to doing it for luck, I couldn't find a straight answer. Eventually I asked the woman who owns the Riverside House and she told me she thinks someone just started it one day and it caught on. 

Not a magical explanation, but a magical scene. I'm sure everyone who did it had something on their heart when hanging their piece. 

Last, but not least, here is one of the many old churches we saw. We had gone to a close small town looking for dinner and stumbled onto this. It was so gorgeous to me that I had to snap the photo, plus with the way sun is shining, it looks serene.

So there is my first day in Ireland. There will be a lot more pictures to come, especially in our busier days, to the point you'll be sick of it. However, if you're like me and have never been out of my country (granted, this is a big country and I have been all over it), then I hope you'll enjoy seeing a whole new world and culture. 

And just to let you know, there's just no way I can find out the history of every place I saw here. I'll try my best, but a lot will just be some photos of these pretty amazing places I stumbled on. 

Ireland was everything I thought and more. I hope you'll stay with me as I highlight that. 

Weaverville Hotel and Emporium

 

This winter I went to go visit the Weaverville Hotel and Emporium. It was quite the feat to get there from Eureka, because the night before I left there was a winter storm that closed down the fastest route there, the 299. There were multiple downed trees that whole route. Then the 36 was also closed due to winter weather. But I was set on going. I wanted to make this blog and I really wanted a vacation away. So I took the only route I could, the long way. Down to Ukiah, over to Redding, and back to Weaverville. It was a round about way, and made my 2 1/2 hour journey into a 6 hour one, but I got there. Funnily enough, that route was closed on my way back and the only way to get home was on the 299 through Willow Creek - the quickest drive of my life. 

When I got to the hotel, I parked in the back and it started snowing again. I checked in and was greeted by the nicest couple who own the hotel and emporium now. I was checked in by the owners, Jeanne and Brian Muir. They bought the place twenty years ago, in 2002. They took two years to renovate it, and then officially re-opened the hotel in 2004. 

(Here are a few photos of the side of the building I took at night).

Jeanne gave me a tour of her hotel before I unloaded my stuff. After I unloaded my stuff, I took a look around the grounds. I'll start taking you on a photo tour of the grounds and hotel.

There was this beautiful gazebo next to the hotel.

It was right after Christmas so the town still had Christmas décor and mailboxes to Santa Clause out. 

(The gazebo and hotel, side view, on a non-snowy day).

Here's the sign more close up. Under the sign is two doorways. One leads inside their emporium, and the other leads up these stairs to the hotel rooms. Once you're checked in you get a key to that second door. 

Before going up the stairs, to the right of this photo is a plaque hanging on the wall.

This property 

has been placed on the 

NATIONAL REGISTER 

OF HISTORIC PLACES 

by the United States 

Department of the Interior

WEAVERVILLE HOTEL 

1861

Up the stairs was this quaint couch and a tiny room where they keep their phone (it actually works)! 

If I had needed to make any calls, they told me this was the place to do it. Beautiful, antique artwork is featured in it, and a helpful calendar as well.

On the other side of the phone booth, couch, and lamp was a small closet labeled "linens."

To the right of the linen closet was one end of the hallway. There was one room down there and the last door on the left was a small room with a mini fridge and microwave where guests could heat up and store their food. 

Turning around, the opposite end of the hallway was where a majority of the rooms were laid. There were pictures up and down the hallway, and my room was down this hallway as well.

The very end of the hallway featured some neat, old, dark chests, and what looks to be a terrarium.

I took some photos of the photos on the wall because they were so historical of the hotel. It was neat jumping back in time looking through them in the exact place I was staying

This hotel has some history to it, and went through many rebuilds and remodels. It was first brought to life as the Condon's Saloon, in 1861 during California's Gold Rush and America's Civil War. 

In 1863, the saloon burnt down and the Empire Hotel was built in its place. It then went through two MORE fires in the span of twenty years. In 1880, the worst of the two additional fires happened, burning the hotel down completely. In 1910, another fire burned up only the second floor. 

Someone new bought the hotel after the second-story fire, and rebuilt the upstairs, turning it back into a hotel. It had a running restaurant on the bottom floor where the emporium sits now. Between 1914 and 1944, the hotel was updated to include plumbing, electricity, and steam heating. 

On the side of the hotel, where all those windows are, there used to be a porch on the second story. They closed it in and added all of the full bathrooms for those rooms to individually have. 

Then we wrap around to Jeanne and Brian Muir buying and renovating the property.

Both say:

The Weaverville Hotel sometime between 1916 and 1939. AJ Fetzer was responsible for adding steam heat/radiators, and DO notice Weaverville's first neon sign, proudly displayed by forward-looking Mr. Fetzer.

An old newspaper article.

I'm going to link the hotel's website here because they have even more information on the old layout of the hotel. It's worth checking out. https://www.weavervillehotel.com/weaverville_history.html

Down the hallway was the room I stayed in - Room 4, Corono de Oro

When I walked in, right in front of the door was this old desk and a fireplace. Which was perfect because it was so cold out. 

A giant wardrobe to put my stuff in - it was a beautiful dark wood that I might guess to be cherry wood.

The bed, which was so comfortable and pretty that I wanted to take three photos of it at different angles. Every night, Jeanne would come in and turn it down. She placed two chocolates from the emporium on it too. 

I also loved these two paintings of the women. It added to the atmosphere of the room. They were to the right of the bed.

There were two tucked away corners in this room. The first is this one. When you walk in and you go straight from the door, then turn right, you'd see this very relaxing soaker tub. I used it nearly every day. It was constantly supplied with bubble bath too. Though it was loud when I turned on the jets, it felt amazing.

The other nook in this room was right next to the bed. I used this as a reading nook and was able to see the gazebo and its' lights from my window. The bathroom with the actual shower and toilet were to the left of the nook from this angle.

It was a great room to be in, and I'd pick it again when I go back.

Now that you've seen upstairs, and the room I stayed in, I wanted to show you the living area last. Down the stairs, there was a door next to that plaque I featured awhile ago. To the right would be an entrance to the emporium. To the left is the plaque and the doorway to the living area.

Here is the living area. My husband and I read on the couch, played cards on the table at night, and even attempted a puzzle. 

Two other angles of the room. You can see their emporium on the other side of the glass doors in the last photo. The front of the hotel is behind the Christmas tree. There are so many beautiful details to this room, and I outlined a few down below.

A beautiful piano I wish I knew how to play.

An old dress on a mannequin. 

Old pictures to look at on the table beside the dress. 

An intricate chandelier above. 

A portrait of a woman over the fireplace.

This is actually an old photo of Jeanne's great grandfather - I don't remember the exact details of what she told me, but he was a sheriff back East in Illinois and she loved to feature this photo of him. If I get any better details, I'll come back and edit this, but it was a fantastic feature in the room. I loved how connected it was to the owner and its' old-timey look.

They had an album featuring some of the weddings that have been held at the hotel. 

This is one last room tucked around the corner of the living space. It has some furniture, a TV, antique décor, and refreshments that the hotel provided. They had some of the best coffee I've had in there.

I thought this fit the theme of the blog pretty well. 

So there's a detailed tour of the Weaverville Hotel and Emporium. I hope I've convinced you to stay there yourself. The townspeople were very kind, the owners were spectacular, the shopping around town was fun. The hotel itself was like walking into history. It reminded me of walking into an old mansion. The owners even feature a spot on their website talking about potential ghosts in the building.

 

I'm glad I was able to stay here, and help preserve some of its history as well. If you ever find yourself in the Northern California mountains, you might creep up on this small town called Weaverville. Do yourself a favor and check out the hotel and emporium on the main drag. You won't regret it.